Complex polyelectrolyte solutions (mesoscopic simulations of their electrostatic assembly and their interaction with surfaces)
Project supervisor: Prof. Karel Procházka
Polyelectrolytes and especially the amphiphilic polyelectrolyte copolymers are important water-soluble multi-stimuli-responsive polymers. While the commodity polyelectrolytes meet the requirements for cheap, environment friendly, and non-toxic components of various wash and launder formulations, the specialty polyelectrolytes find smart applications in medicine, pharmacology and in modern nanotechologies. Their self-assembly and co-assembly with other species (surfactants, other polymers or nanoparticles) is a topic of mainstream experimental studies. Theoretical and simulation studies aimed at the principles and driving forces of self-assembling processes are needed for correct interpretation of experimental data. Furtheremore, the computer studies offer unique opportunities to address experimentally inaccessible physical quantities and replace expensive experiments. The conformational and self-assembling behavior of polyelectrolytes will be studied by dissipative particle dynamics and Monte Carlo methods.
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